The affordable Jina Reader alternative
Serpex is a web search API for AI agents that returns search results and the full page content behind them as LLM-ready markdown in a single request. Jina Reader is a URL-to-markdown reader endpoint, billed on tokens. Jina Reader is priced per page (Token-based on the response: $0.050 per million tokens, dropping to $0.045 at volume. Cost varies with page size, so it does not reduce cleanly to a per-page price) rather than per search, so the two overlap only partially.
Pricing verified against Jina Reader’s public pricing page on 2026-08-16. Source. Prices change — check theirs before deciding.
Pricing compared
| Serpex | Jina Reader | |
|---|---|---|
| Search, per 1,000 | $0.50 – $0.65 | Not a search API |
| Page content | Included on the same request | Token-based on the response: $0.050 per million tokens, dropping to $0.045 at volume. Cost varies with page size, so it does not reduce cleanly to a per-page price |
| Search + content, 10 results, per 1,000 | $2.50 – $3.25 | Not applicable |
| Free tier | Free credits on signup, no card required | 10 million tokens with a new key — one-time, not monthly, and the free tier is licensed for non-commercial use only |
Where Serpex is different
- We find the pages for you — Reader needs you to already have the URL
- Per-request pricing is predictable; token pricing varies with page size
Where Jina Reader is the better choice
- Dead simple: prefix a URL and get markdown back
- Token pricing is very cheap for small pages
- A large free token allowance to start with
Pick Jina Reader if you already have the URLs and only need them converted to markdown. It is a reader, not a search API.
What the Serpex request looks like
One call returns the results and the page content behind them. There is no second request to orchestrate.
curl -X POST https://api.serpex.dev/api/search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SERPEX_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": "how does retrieval augmented generation work",
"include_content": true,
"content_results": 5
}'Frequently asked questions
Is Serpex cheaper than Jina Reader?
Jina Reader is priced per page rather than per search (Token-based on the response: $0.050 per million tokens, dropping to $0.045 at volume. Cost varies with page size, so it does not reduce cleanly to a per-page price), so the two are not directly comparable. Serpex charges $0.50 – $0.65 per 1,000 searches, with page content available on the same request.
What is the main difference between Serpex and Jina Reader?
Jina Reader is a URL-to-markdown reader endpoint, billed on tokens. Serpex returns search results and the full page content behind them as LLM-ready markdown in a single API call, which is the difference that matters for most retrieval pipelines.
When should I use Jina Reader instead of Serpex?
You already have the URLs and only need them converted to markdown. It is a reader, not a search API.
Can I get both search results and page content in one request?
With Serpex, yes — set include_content on a normal search call and each result comes back with the page converted to markdown. Jina Reader does not offer search, so you would pair it with a separate search API.
Try it against your own queries
Free credits on signup, no card required. Compare the output with Jina Reader on the queries you actually run.